Ancient artifacts illegally smuggled to Hobby Lobby will return to Iraq

Artifacts illegally smuggled from Iraq to Hobby Lobby.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that several thousand ancient artifacts that were illegally smuggled to Hobby Lobby are on their way back to Iraq.

When they were sent to the retailer, the artifacts were labeled as "tile samples," CNN reports. Hobby Lobby agreed last July to give the ancient items back and pay a $3 million fine. ICE says it returned 3,800 artifacts, including cuneiform tablets and clay bullae. "This is really important to us," Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S. Fareed Yasseen said. "You have to understand that in Iraq, memories are long, and so we really have a sense of kinship to these artifacts."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.